Gene Lyons: Playing on her own terms

5:04 PM,
Feb. 24, 2014

Written by

Gene Lyons

Back in 1993, a Washington Post reporter asked me which Clinton was smarter, Bill or Hillary. As a magazine journalist long residing in Arkansas, I'd never covered state government and would have described the president and first lady as friendly acquaintances, nothing more.

I said that we had a saying in the Central Arkansas Beagle Club that you can't train no dog that's smarter than you. Since both Clintons clearly topped me in the IQ department, I had no way to judge their relative brainpower.

Needless to say, this was the wrong answer, deeply violative of journalistic protocol. Making ...